


and to that kiss a score

by batsinboots



Category: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Fluff, Height Differences, Kissing, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-03
Updated: 2020-12-03
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:47:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,588
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27853650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/batsinboots/pseuds/batsinboots
Summary: “You’ve been so diligent, finding ways to kiss me even though you’re so small,” he teases, grinning when Link turns his head just enough to bite at the thumb that brushes over his jaw. “I figured it was my turn.”And, well.It’s not like Link is going tocomplainabout Sidon kissing him. So, rolling his eyes—just to make sure Sidon knows he doesn’t appreciate his teasing—he tugs Sidon closer and plants another kiss on that grinning mouth.Then another, and another, and another, until he loses count.AKA four times Link kisses Sidon in spite of the height difference and one time Sidon returns the favor.
Relationships: Link/Prince Sidon
Comments: 12
Kudos: 337





	and to that kiss a score

**Author's Note:**

> written for day 1 of Sidlink Week 2020: size difference
> 
> the title comes from the following:
>
>> Give me a kiss, and to that kiss a score; Then to that twenty, add a hundred more: A thousand to that hundred: so kiss on, To make that thousand up a million. Treble that million, and when that is done, Let's kiss afresh, as when we first begun.
> 
> -Robert Herrick 

**One**

Sidon is tall.

This isn’t the first time Link has noticed, of course. It’s just that until now, he’s usually had more important things on his mind than the way he has to look up—and up, and up, and up—to see the Zora’s face. Now, with Calamity Ganon defeated and Zelda safe, he has all the time in the world to notice.

It’s. . . odd.

Link isn’t used to feeling small. Even odder, he isn’t used to liking it so much.

“Link?”

He flinches, startled at being addressed. Turning his head, he looks away from the tall ceiling to rest his gaze on Sidon instead, who’s finally stopped pacing back and forth across his room in favor of watching Link. ‘What?’ he signs.

“Is everything alright, my pearl? You seem. . .” He trails off, seemingly at a loss. Link takes a grounding breath, tells himself it’s ridiculous to feel so. . . so _much_ at a simple pet name. He nods sharply, earning a skeptical look. “Are you certain?”

Link rolls his eyes, sitting up. ‘Do you want me to go?’

“What?” Sidon looks appalled. “No!”

‘If I’m distracting you—‘

“You aren’t.” Sidon pauses, seems to gather himself. “I was only concerned, but if nothing is wrong, then please stay as long as you’d like.”

Link grins, offering a thumbs up, and Sidon relaxes for quite possibly the first time all day, smiling back at him. Then he shakes himself out of it, and Link watches with rising dismay as he returns to his pacing. Instead of returning to his sprawl across Sidon’s bed, he reclines back on his hands, keeping the Zora prince in sight.

He works too hard, he thinks absently.

Then he huffs, realizing the hypocrisy of the thought; even now, Sidon often says the same to him.

But that doesn’t mean it isn’t true. Just yesterday, Sidon presented a new trade proposal from the Gerudo before his father’s council, and tonight, he’s leading a ceremony to welcome the latest Hylian envoy from the castle.

He’s nervous about it, Link realizes as he watches Sidon fidget with one of the sashes in his wardrobe before abandoning it for the next, even though they’re nearly identical.

With a sigh, Link looks away, giving him some privacy as he frets.

He knows these duties are Sidon’s to bear alone, but _still._ He wishes there was something he could do, and unbidden he thinks of Zelda—the way she embraced him the last time they met, pressed a kiss to his cheek and seemed to find some comfort in it before her latest visit to the Sheikah. Maybe. . .

Maybe that’s what Sidon needs—a kiss from a friend, a reminder that he’s here.

He’s never seen a Zora kiss someone—and, really, before Zelda, he doesn’t remember if _he’s_ ever kissed anyone either—but he thinks the meaning will translate well enough anyway, even if it isn’t their custom.

Scooting to the edge of Sidon’s rarely used waterbed—kept, mostly for Link’s benefit, as Sidon prefers to spend his nights in the shallow pool near the balcony—he drops silently to the floor. Then he plants his hands on his hips as he surveys the room for something to stand on; Sidon is too tall to kiss as he is, and even just the thought of asking his friend to bend down for a kiss is enough to make his cheeks flush and his stomach tie itself into knots.

No, he’ll need to find a different way.

When his gaze lands on the chair beside Sidon’s desk, he perks up. He trots over, grabbing it and proceeding to drag it across the room, ignoring the ungodly screech the legs make against the floor.

“Link?” Sidon asks, puzzled, looking over his shoulder to watch his approach.

Link huffs, letting go of the chair to sign, ‘Stay there.’

When Sidon does as he asks—his gaze tracking Link’s progress in the wardrobe’s mirror—he gets the chair placed just behind him, then steps back to consider the distance between them. Frowning, he adjusts it a little to the left. A little bit closer. Finally, when he’s satisfied, he climbs up onto it, frustrated to find the top of his head doesn’t even reach Sidon’s shoulder.

He’ll have to jump the rest of the way.

Clearly tired of waiting, Sidon says, “Link, I really—" Then Link lands on his back, carefully avoiding his tail fin, and whatever he was about to say is abandoned in favor of a decidedly un-princely squeak.

Link, feeling quite pleased with himself, grins as he wraps his legs as far around Sidon’s chest as he can, latching onto his neck with his arms. He pulls himself higher, until he can rest his chin on Sidon’s shoulder and look into the mirror with him.

Sidon is looking back at him, frozen, his eyes wide and his mouth hanging open. Cute, Link thinks before shoving that thought firmly aside.

He leans closer, closing his eyes as he turns his head just enough to press his lips firmly to Sidon’s cheek.

When Sidon squeaks again, he grins, opening one eye just enough to see the way Sidon’s cheeks darken under his touch. Sidon’s hands rise to cover his own; they’re shaking. “Link, I—What?”

Holding tighter with his legs where they’re clamped over Sidon’s ribs, he frees his hands to sign. ‘You’re worried.’ Sidon only keeps staring, so he adds, ‘About tonight.’

“I am not!” he protests. At Link’s skeptical look, he shakes his head, careful not to dislodge Link with his tail fin, and says primly, “Regardless, that doesn’t explain why you kissed me, my friend.”

‘You didn’t like it?’ Link asks, frowning. He didn’t expect this outcome.

When he loosens his grip, preparing to drop down to the floor again, Sidon's hold on his arms spasms. “No!” he says. Then, cheeks darkening even more, he hurries to say, “I mean, I did. I liked it very much, my treasure. I’m only. . . confused. What drove you to—to do so?”

Link sighs. He feels like this should be obvious. ‘I wanted to make you feel better.’

“Oh.” Sidon’s shoulders slump, just a little.

‘Also, I like you.’

Sidon perks up again. “Oh!”

‘Did it work?’ Link asks.

“Pardon?” Sidon asks. When Link asks again, he laughs. “Well, I would says so. I seem to have forgotten what I was worried about.”

Link hums and rests his cheek on Sidon’s shoulder, pleased. ‘Good,’ he signs.

And that’s that.

At least until Sidon says, “You didn’t need that business with the chair, you know.” Link opens his eyes just long enough to aim an inquisitive look his way. “If you’d asked me to, I would have gladly bent down for you to reach.”

Link scoffs, hiding his blushing cheeks in Sidon’s neck. ‘Shut up.’

“Or perhaps I could have picked you up!” Sidon says brightly, obviously enamored by the idea. In reply, Link bares his teeth, pressing them to Sidon’s shoulder, and Sidon jostles him higher, where there’s nowhere to hide his face. “Truly, Link,” he says, so genuine that Link feels himself blush, “thank you. I feel better already.”

**Two**

The next time he feels the urge to kiss Sidon, the prince is sulking at his desk. Although he’s finally been allowed out of the healer’s sight, he’s not allowed to even look at a spear until he’s fully healed, and so he’s been spending his days poring over old trade agreements and reports from around the domain.

While the productivity has staved off some of the prince’s restlessness, Link can tell he’s anxious to do more.

Link, whose own recent fit of boredom led Zelda to ban him from the castle until he worked it out of his system, can relate. Still, he refuses to help his friend defy the healer’s orders, no matter how much he protests. “—I can hardly even feel it anymore,” Sidon is saying as he writes, apparently not noticing Link’s lapse in attention. “Surely the healer is exaggerating.”

Link sighs, loud enough for Sidon to hear across the room.

Sidon turns in his chair, and although he attempts to glare, it's somewhat ruined by the usual joy that spreads over his face at just the sight of him. Even if it wasn’t, Link would hardly be intimidated. He’s known the prince too long for that.

‘Listen to your healer,’ he signs.

“Easy for you to say,” Sidon says, eyeing Link’s perfectly healthy form with a sour expression. “I bet you’ve never listened to a healer in your life.”

Link shrugs, because as far as he knows, he’s right. ‘Am I really the example you should be following?’

Sidon pauses to consider this, likely remembering the many times Link emerged from the domain’s shrine looking half-dead and seeking a safe place to heal himself. Grumbling, he turns back to his work, and Link accepts his victory graciously, rolling over onto his belly to burrow deeper into the growing pile of blankets Sidon has been collecting for him in between his visits—half of him wonders if this is Sidon attempting to bribe him to stay longer in his bed, the other half knows such a bribe is unnecessary.

Ridiculous, he thinks as he watches Sidon work, unable to stop the grin that spreads over his face, the laugh that’s building in his chest.

As he watches the flex of Sidon's shoulders, the way his neck bends, he realizes he wants to be closer—to curl up beside him and hold on tight and maybe. . . maybe even kiss him again.

Injured and sitting down as he is, he’s unlikely to ever be an easier target. So, wriggling out of his blanket prison, Link rolls off the bed and pads silently across the room. When he appears at Sidon’s elbow, the prince flinches, almost knocking an inkwell to the floor. Link’s hand darts out to catch it.

“Link?” Sidon asks.

Link ignores him, pulling himself up to perch on the edge of Sidon’s desk like one of the gargoyles on Hyrule Castle’s roof. He uses one hand to tug Sidon closer, and the other to balance himself on his shoulder. Then, as Sidon waits, utterly still beneath his touch, he presses a kiss to his temple, nuzzling the edge of his crest before he pulls back, satisfied.

“Trying to cheer me up again?” Sidon asks, voice hoarse.

Link takes a moment just to look at him, feeling something warm settle between his ribs when he sees the smile tugging at Sidon’s lips. He shakes his head, and Sidon leans back in his chair, trying and failing to look stern while he waits for his answer.

Link can’t help but grin at the sight. ‘I wanted to be close to you.’

Sidon looks like Link kicked him in the chest, like he can barely breathe. “Oh, my pearl,” he says. He lifts on hand to Link’s cheek—trembling just so, and Link leans into it easily. “I’m glad to hear it, and even gladder you acted on it.”

‘Again?’ Link asks shyly.

“Yes,” Sidon says, using his hold on Link’s face to tug him closer, until he can press his cool lips to Link’s forehead. Link sighs happily, and Sidon adds, “Always. Whenever you want.”

**Three**

The third time is mostly an accident.

Wind whipping through his hair, Link squints when he sees a familiar red shape down below, crossing the Great Zora Bridge. He grips his paraglider tighter, then folds it, his stomach swooping as he drops until—he snaps it open again, hissing at the pull in his arms when it catches on the air to carry him the rest of the way.

On the bridge, the Zora beside Sidon—Bazz, he realizes as he rapidly approaches—points up at him with a beaming grin.

He only realizes he’s miscalculated when he barrels right into Sidon’s chest as the prince turns to face him, not quite managing to knock him onto his back, but still making him stagger back into the one of the bridge’s pillars. Large hands curl under his thighs, and he lets his paraglider drop, holding onto Sidon with one hand as he waves with the other, grinning like he meant to do that the entire time.

Sidon, still leaning against the pillar, only stares.

Then he laughs, one hand rising to spread over Link’s back and pull him into a hug. “Marvelous entrance, my most treasured friend,” he says, and his words vibrate all through Link’s chest. “Although, I assure you, such measures are hardly necessary to catch my attention.”

Link hums in the back of his throat, shrugging. He rises just enough to kiss Sidon’s cheek, and the hand on his thigh spasms.

“Thank you, Link,” Sidon says, and he sounds flustered. Link wonders if he’s only supposed to kiss his friend when they’re alone. “I’m pleased to see you as well.”

“Aww,” Bazz coos beside them, and Link startles. He’d forgotten the other Zora was there. “Do I get a kiss hello?”

Sidon’s arms around him tighten.

Link sticks his tongue out at his old friend, and Bazz takes an exaggerated steep back with his hands raised before him. “Only joking, my prince,” he says with barely concealed amusement. He winks at Link. “I’d hate to step on any toes.”

Slowly, Sidon’s hold on him loosens again.

He huffs, rubbing his large hand up and down Link’s spine without thought. Settling easily into the touch, Link rests his head on Sidon’s shoulder, content to stay in the prince’s arms as he and Bazz continue their stroll down the bridge.

When he catches sight of Muzu watching them over Sidon’s shoulder, looking so scandalized that Link almost feels bad, he blows him a kiss as well, and not even Sidon’s panicked questions are enough to make him stop laughing—so hard he thinks he might pass out—at the old Zora’s offended screech.

**Four**

“Looking for the prince?” Link hears as soon as he steps out into the central plaza. When he nods, Marot grins. “He’s with Bazz and the little ones at Mikau Lake. If you head over now, you can probably catch them training.”

Link perks up at the thought.

He doesn’t often get the chance to watch Sidon fight, so the prospect of getting to watch him when there’s no real danger is too good to ignore. With a grateful wave to Marot, he jogs across the plaza, exchanging cheerful greetings with the few Zora who cross his path.

As soon as he steps onto the path from the bridge, he hears them—weapons clashing, the excited cheers of young Zora.

When he finally sees the source of the noise, he has to stop and stare. Where he expected to see a match between Sidon and Bazz, instead he sees three young Zora, barely taller than Sidon’s knees, facing off against their prince. He clutches one hand over his heart, wondering why his chest feels so warm, so tight.

Bazz catches sight of him, waving him over. “You’re just in time,” he says, clapping one hand to his shoulder. He turns back to the match, watching it with sharp eyes. “The little ones wouldn’t rest until we gave them a turn.”

‘Does he do this often?’ Link asks, unable to tear his gaze away from Sidon and how gently he handles his young opponents.

“Often enough,” Bazz says, letting out a loud cheer when one of the children lands a hit that sends Sidon staggering in mock pain. To Link, voice low, he says, “They like him best because he lets them win.”

‘I see.’

And he _does_ see. Sidon is moving slower than he usually does, clearly signaling his hits before they land—and the ones that do land barely even make the children scurrying around his legs stumble. He watches as the children gain more and more ground, feeling so fond he might burst and laughing when Sidon finally falls dramatically to one knee then collapses onto his back, one hand clasped over his chest as the other falls limp to the dirt, his weapon tumbling from his grasp.

“I’ve been hit,” he calls as the little Zora swarm around him, cheering. “I think. . . this is the end.”

The children who’ve claimed victory immediately drop their weapons, clambering onto Sidon’s prone form, giggling when he grunts under their sudden weight, their sharp limbs digging into his belly. The ring of onlookers moves to follow, only to freeze when Bazz lifts a hand to his mouth and whistles sharply, striding forward.

“That’s enough, you little beasts,” he says, and the children shriek and scramble out of reach as he catches Tumbo with one hand, lifting him over his head, easily ignoring his giggled protests.

Then, with a roar, Finley throws herself at Bazz’s legs, toppling him to the ground, and the rest of the children follow, converging on their new victim.

Feeling eyes on him, Link looks away from Bazz’s plight and sees Sidon watching him from where he’s still sprawled out on the ground. When he realizes he’s been caught, he snaps his eyes shut, turning to face the sky again.

Link grins, trotting over to his side, dropping to his knees beside Sidon’s head.

He taps his fingers on Sidon’s cheek, but the Zora only scrunches up his nose. One eye slits open, then clenches shut again. Link huffs, sitting back on his heels as he tilts his head, considering. After a quick look over his shoulder to make sure the others are still occupied, he takes Sidon’s face in his hands, then bends down to press a chaste kiss to the corner of his mouth.

Immediately, Sidon takes a deep, exaggerated breath, his eyes snapping open. “I’m alive!” he cries, wrapping an arm around Link and sitting up, his other arm raised in victory. Link folds easily into his hold, laughing as he winds his arms around Sidon’s neck.

He thinks he feels Sidon’s lips in his hair.

Then a weight crashes into his back, and he grunts as he’s crushed even harder against Sidon’s chest. He looks over his shoulder and sees Finley has abandoned her assault on Bazz to join him and Sidon, baring her teeth in a vicious grin. Their only warning is another round of battle cries, and then more little bodies follow, piling atop them and driving them back to the ground.

Link groans, dropping his forehead to Sidon’s chest, accepting his fate.

Beneath him, he feels Sidon’s chest shaking as he laughs.

When Bazz approaches, crouching just out of reach, Link somehow manages to turn his head despite the foot that’s planted itself on the back of it. He meets his friend’s gaze, and Bazz laughs at him. “Good luck, hero,” he says, saluting. “True love’s kiss won’t save you from this one.”

Blushing furiously, Link glares, promising retribution the moment he escapes.

Bazz only laughs at him again, daring to reach forward and ruffle his hair before he stands, snatching his abandoned trident from the ground as he makes his way back to the bridge to the domain, abandoning Sidon and Link to their deaths by overeager children.

**+One**

“What has you thinking so hard, my pearl?” Sidon asks the next time he manages to escape to the domain. It’s a rare day where neither of them have to be pulled away by their many responsibilities, and so they've wandered their way down the river, only stopping to bask when the sun breaks through the clouds.

Link startles at the unexpected question, and Sidon chuckles at his wide-eyed look. He recovers enough to glare, pouting as he signs, ‘Nothing.’

“Oh, come now.” Sidon rises up from where he was lounging at the river’s edge. He shakes some of the water off, laughing when Link scoots pointedly away. “You can tell me.”

Almost without thought, Link’s gaze drops to Sidon’s mouth.

Sidon’s eyes light up with understanding. Once he’s close enough, he holds out one hand, and Link accepts it without hesitating, letting Sidon pull him easily to his feet. He doesn’t expect Sidon’s sudden drop to his knees, and he’d stagger back if it weren’t for the hands that curl over his arms, holding him in place.

“May I?” Sidon asks, quiet.

Link’s breath catches, and he nods, shivering when Sidon’s hands drift up over his shoulders, then his neck, to carefully cradle his face.

He closes his eyes, because he can’t bear the look on Sidon’s face, and then he feels Sidon’s lips on his—careful, chaste. When Sidon pulls back, Link leans forward to follow, and Sidon chuckles, using his hold on Link’s face to turn his head to the side, pressing another kiss to his cheek, then his temple.

Link opens his eyes. ‘You kissed me,’ he signs, because he doesn’t know what else to say.

Sidon huffs a laugh, ducking his head.

“You’ve been so diligent, finding ways to kiss me even though you’re so small,” he teases, grinning when Link turns his head just enough to bite at the thumb that brushes over his jaw. “I figured it was my turn.”

And, well.

It’s not like Link is going to _complain_ about Sidon kissing him. So, rolling his eyes—just to make sure Sidon knows he doesn’t appreciate his teasing—he tugs Sidon closer and plants another kiss on that grinning mouth.

Then another, and another, and another, until he loses count.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading! this is my first fic for this ship, so i hope i did alright :))


End file.
